1. Field of the Invention
The present-invention relates to a music stand device provided in a keyboard instrument or the like, and a musical instrument having the music stand device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been known a music stand device constructed such that a musical score plate is disposed in a standing position on a base such as a roof plate of a musical instrument (see Japanese Patent Publication No. 3317109, for example). This apparatus includes a mounting plate that is fixed to the base, a fixing plate that is fixed to the musical score plate, and a supporting plate that is pivotally supported at an upper end of the fixing plate, with a free end of the supporting plate engaged by the mounting plate. Thus, these three members form a triangular shape as viewed from the side to keep the musical score plate slightly tilted backward in a standing position. The mounting plate is secured to the base by screws or the like.
In the music stand device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3317109 mentioned above, the mounting plate is typically fastened to the base from above using a hand tool such as a screwdriver, but an upper end of the musical score plate in a standing position lies above the fastening part. Therefore, in this state, the hand tool and the musical score plate are likely to interfere with each other, making it difficult to carry out the fastening operation. To avoid the interference, the musical score plate has to be temporarily raised forward. Accordingly, to prevent a lower end face of the musical score plate in a standing position (i.e. a front end face of the musical score plate when it is laid down) from interfering with the base, it is necessary to provide an appropriate space between the lower end face of the musical score plate and the base. This causes the problem that a finger or foreign matter is caught in this space when the mounting plate is fastened to the base or when the musical score plate is brought into a standing position or a laid-down position and therefore safety cannot be secured and the musical instrument does not look attractive as viewed from the front.
Alternatively, assuming that the mounting plate is sufficiently long in the longitudinal direction of the apparatus and the fastening part is located in a rear part of the mounting plate, the hand tool and the musical score plate can be prevented from interfering with each other during the fastening operation, but the operatability deteriorates due to an increase in the size of the mounting plate, and also, the mounting plate cannot be securely fixed to the base due to a decrease in the fixing strength of mainly a front part of the mounting plate fixed to the base.
Also, in the music stand device disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3317109 mentioned above, a musical score resting member is disposed on the roof plate as the base, and hence a musical score is positioned relatively high, leaving room for improvement in viewability.
By the way, in a keyboard instrument equipped with a retractable slide cover that is slid forward and backward, the retractable slide cover is designed to hide the interior of the main body of the musical instrument from view when the cover is closed. This, however, causes the problem that the retractable slide cover is long in the longitudinal direction of the instrument, and as a result, to secure a required space for accommodating the retractable slide-cover when it is opened, the main body of the musical instrument has to be long in the longitudinal direction of the instrument. On the other hand, if there is additionally provided a member exclusively for hiding the interior of the main body of the keyboard instrument from view, the musical instrument will be complicated in construction and will not look attractive.